Art & MusicGreek → English
Mandolin
/ˈmændəlɪn/noun
A small plucked instrument with paired metal strings and a rounded back.
The Greek roots
πανδοῦρα
pandoûra
three-stringed lute
Literally: “little three-stringed lute”
Follow a root:πανδοῦρα1 word
The story of the word
Italian mandolino is a diminutive of mandola, which most etymologists trace back through Late Latin pandura to Greek pandoura, a long-necked instrument with three strings. The change of the first letter has never been explained to everyone's satisfaction, so the chain is probable rather than proven. Banjo may belong to the same family, by a longer road.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Late Latin → Italian → English
- First recorded
- 18th century
Same family
mandolabandorepandora
In a sentence
He kept a mandolin under the bar and played it when the place emptied out.